Dan wants to be the man for Town

Attacker Dan Walker is hoping his goalscoring appearance from the bench during Tuesday night’s defeat to Braintree could lead to a start in Saturday’s home clash against Nuneaton, writes Mike Simmonds.

The 22-year-old scored with one of his first touches and is in contention due to Stuart Fleetwood’s suspension and Scott Rendell’s dead leg.

Walker said: “The gaffer assured me if I’m doing my bit, scoring goals in the reserves, doing well in training, I will get my chance.

“I got a chance, scored a goal and want to push on from here now, play more regularly and be involved.

“I’m not sure if I’ll start (on Saturday), hopefully I’ll get another appearance, even if it’s coming off the bench, I’ll be able to make some kind of impact.

“You look to get as many chances as you can and hopefully you can take them.

“I feel I’ve done that. If I get the nod to start or come off the bench, I’ll look to do the same thing and hopefully we’ll get the result this time.”

Boss Paul Buckle certainly felt the forward was in with a chance as he said: “Walker is someone who’s been waiting quite a while.

“I’ve been very pleased with him for a long time.

“He’s not had a great deal of football at Luton, but certainly showed what he’s made of, it was a great finish.”

Although Walker drew Town level, it ultimately counted for nothing as defender Matt Paine’s header secured Braintree the points.

Walker continued: “It’s very frustrating, I would rather take the win and not score myself.

“The goal is good for my personal point of view, but doesn’t mean anything as the team’s not even picked up a point, so it’s a bit of an anti-climax.

“The team spirit was drained as we thought we’d get a win here and we ended up losing it.”

The goal, Walker’s second in a Town shirt, was a fine strike with his left foot from the edge of the box, something he has been practising in training.

He said: “I’ve been working with Embo (Carl Emberson) on my left foot and was joking in training saying my left foot was better than my right foot.

“When I was shooting, I scored more with my left, so I’ve hit it quite cleanly and it’s gone in the bottom corner.”

Despite seeing their three-game winning run ended in controversial circumstances, Walker is more than confident that Town’s opposition are going to bear the brunt any time soon.

He said: “Every little bit (in training) is helping.

“It hasn’t all come together yet, we’ve shown bits and bobs in games, but I’m sure once the full package comes we’ll be unstoppable.

“There’s still a long way to go, we still haven’t hit top form yet.

“We’ve had the odd good result and then thrown it away losing to Alfreton, Telford, and Braintree.

“I know without doubt we’ll go on a good run as I feel we’re playing nowhere near our potential.

“We’ve got a few good victories in us yet and I think we’ll beat a few teams six or seven this season without a doubt.”

Walker is delighted Town are back at Kenilworth Road this weekend to so they can put right the wrongs of Tuesday night.

He added: “It’s another home game with the fans behind us again. Hopefully we can make up for it and give the fans what they want to see.”

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